1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method, system, and program for managing fax jobs in a network computing system and, in particular, processing messages that include file attachments to transmit via facsimile to a recipient contact address, e.g., a phone number, e-mail address, etc.
2. Description of the Related Art
In network computing systems, users at client computers may send and receive facsimiles through a shared system to centrally manage fax resources for network users. One prior art implementation of a network facsimile system uses one or more fax servers that are dedicated to receiving, rendering, transmitting, and otherwise managing facsimile jobs from network users. The dedicated fax servers have modem ports to directly transmit the fax message as well as perform all fax management related operations. One disadvantage of using server class machines as the fax server is the substantial cost of server machines. Another disadvantage is that such fax servers would be limited to rendering fax documents created in server based applications. However, network users most likely create fax documents with common application programs that are more likely to execute on personal computer oriented machines, such as word processors, graphics programs, spreadsheet programs, etc., that do not run efficiently or at all on the server machine. Thus, users could not use the fax server to transmit the type of documents they are most likely to have.
Another prior art network fax solution involves the use of a Windows NT server as a dedicated fax server that receives, renders, transmits and otherwise manages the facsimile message. The Windows NT fax server includes a modem port to transmit the facsimile as well as perform all fax management related operations. The disadvantage of this approach is that the network must incorporate a Windows NT system and then install the server software on the Windows NT dedicated fax server to integrate with the overall system. This installation of the server software with the Windows NT is often undesirable from an integration and compatibility standpoint. Further, it is expensive to acquire Windows NT machines and the server licenses for fax server operations. Still further, the Windows NT system does not optimally perform rendering and conversion operations because of the processor resources that must be used for fax transmission operations.
Thus, there is a need in the art for a more cost effective approach for managing the facsimile transmission of documents in a network environment that avoids incompatibility and integration problems with the current network architecture.